Category: reasons I’m not writing

Lost: one Muse. If found, please send home ASAP

I’m proud to say I’ve actually made progress this week.  Not on writing.  I haven’t done any actual writing this week.  Sigh….Muse?  Where aaaaare you?  Hello? Okay.  This is what my progress on The Fall looks like over the past few weeks:

dear cursor

You’re right:  nothing.  No writing.  But it’s only Tuesday….Apparently, my Muse has taken off for parts unknown.  Knowing my Muse, “parts unknown” is probably code for “a beach with a hammock, a never-ending margarita machine, and a cute cabana boy.”  I digress.  Where was I?  Not on a beach….

I did, however, manage to do my revision chapter outline for seven chapters of the werewolf story this morning.  I also converted an entire chapter of the zombie story from 3rd person to 1st person POV.  That’s trickier than it sounds…I’ve done short crits for two people in my writing group.  Written several blog posts for my other blogs.  And looooots of homework.   Yay for homework.  Except not.

Goals for the rest of the week:  Convert another chapter of the zombie story.  Finish the revision outline for the werewolf story.  Write another chapter of The Fall.  Survive.

 

 

Bribing Myself

So, despite loads of homework and reading for school, I managed to do mini-outlines for two more chapters in the werewolf story. Progress, although of the infinitesimal, snail-like variety. Three chapters down, 29 to go…but it will get done. And I promised my best friend/co-writer that I would convert ONE chapter of our zombie story to first-person this weekend. I’m also thinking about trying out Scrivener. Anybody out there used it or have any opinions or comments about it?

I also have this sitting on my desk, waiting to be read:

Personal bribery at its best...
Personal bribery at its best…

I know, I know. The Wheel of Time series has dragged on forever. I’ve heard all the complaints. Seen all the bad reviews for the series in general. I know. Also, I don’t care. I haven’t opened it yet. IF I get all the stuff done that I need to this weekend–homework, writing, revision, blogging, cleaning, re-decorating, planting–THEN I will start reading it. If not, well, it’ll have to wait. It’s been years since I started reading the series, I don’t think a few more days will hurt me.

I’m the tortoise

So, school started again today. Not that I went. Um, the roads were pretty crappy this morning due to a winter weather system that moved in early this morning, and after watching news and traffic reports for a while, I decided I didn’t really want to risk driving 25 miles to school on the first day of the semester. Yes, I hate missing class. But at least this was a day that would have been at least partially taken up with going over the syllabus, which I’ve already read. So instead of risking my life with crazy Texas drivers who freak out at the first snowflake (and let’s not even talk about ice), I stayed home. I did quite a bit of homework. Yeah, I know, it’s the first day of classes. But the more I get done during the week, the less I have to do this weekend. And with 17 hours this semester, there’s a lot to do.

Despite my busy schedule, I still want to keep up with my writing. That means I have to set small goals, instead of my usual over-the-top, all-or-nothing method. With that end in mind, I’ve decided to do a very brief chapter outline of the werewolf story, to make revisions a bit less overwhelming. So I outlined the first chapter today. Granted, it’s maybe 5 sentences, but it’s progress, and I plan to do more work on it the rest of the week. I also plan on converting one chapter of the zombie story to first-person each week, and I also intend to get in at least one writing session a week on the new story. In addition, I’d like to keep up a twice-weekly blogging schedule. That doesn’t sound like much, but I do have two other blogs, so that’s a bit more time-intensive.

This week I’m focusing on baby steps. The tortoise won the race, didn’t he?

Does this count as “work”?

So…after being told repeatedly by several people that I needed to watch The Walking Dead because it is, apparently, the greatest show ever, I finally ordered the first season on DVD. It came in today. Now I’m faced with a conundrum: stare at the blank page of my new story, or this:

like a boss

This is a really tough choice, isn’t it? Yeah, RIGHT. So, since I’m obviously not going to be staring at the blank page, my next question is this: does watching I-don’t-know-how-many-episodes of The Walking Dead count as “writing”? Not actual writing, clearly, but research for writing? I mean, my best friend and I DID write that zombie story. And my new story DOES have zombies in it….So. Clearly this is writing-related. Win!

Progress…of a sort

I did do some work on the new story yesterday. Okay, I didn’t actually start writing it. I planned on it, but it was Christmas, and I spent the day with my mom and my brother, plus I ended up spending the night at my mom’s house because of the weather, so I wasn’t exactly able to write. But I DID get another chapter outlined, and flesh out my MC a little bit. That counts as progress, right? So. Tomorrow. Again….

Inspiration vs Motivation

Have you ever been so excited about a new story that you jumped out of bed, raced to the computer, and spent hours with your fingers flying over the keyboard as the story poured out of you and onto the page? Yeah, me neither. Well. Let me modify that statement a tiny bit: I haven’t had this happen to me lately. It’s happened, but it’s been a good long while. Say…years. Oh, I’ve written (some). I’ve completed stories. I’ve had new ideas I’ve been excited about. But never to the point where it completely took over my life. As a matter of fact, I have a new story idea right now that I’m really excited about. Sadly…I have no motivation. Seriously. It’s my semester break. I have plenty of time to write. But I haven’t. Not a single word. I have a phase outline of the first chapter. I know a bit about the world and the characters. I have more than enough to start. I just…haven’t.

I need to find my motivation. My Muse (inspiration) is probably waiting at the keyboard for me. All I need to do is show up and be ready to work. Tomorrow. I’ll start tomorrow.

Fighting the urge to procrastinate–or maybe it’s just laziness

I’m a writer. I…write. Except, for that last year and a half, I haven’t written much of anything. Sure, I’ve been working and going to school, but there’s been a fair amount of time wasted watching stupid stuff on TV, playing Words with Friends, being nosy on Facebook, and then there’s Pinterest. My God, the time-wasting potential of Pinterest! Hours gone in the blink of an eye, and nothing to show for it but an odd collection of funny pics and inspiring quotes. (Which are, apparently, not very inspiring, since I STILL didn’t get started writing.)

So. I need help. Over the last week or so, I’ve slowly started writing again, to the tune of 1,000 or so words a day. When I was writing regularly, 3-5,000 words a day was not unusual for me, and it seemed almost effortless. Now…well, the Muse is willing, but the body is weak and the mind is easily distracted. (“Hey, I haven’t checked Facebook in the last 5 minutes. Maybe something new is going on…”) Does anyone have suggestions for keeping writing motivation up? I want to write. I love to write. I have a thousand stories and characters in my head that want to get out, but somehow, I have to force myself to sit down at the computer and open the manuscript. And if I don’t write, then a nagging sense of guilt and discontent follows me around for the rest of the day.

So. Suggestions, anyone? Any little tips you use to keep your butt in the chair and your fingers on the keys? Right now, tying myself to the chair is starting to seem like a viable option…although getting OUT of it might be a bit tricky.

I Think My Muse is (Finally) Back from Vacation….

So, I haven’t done any writing to speak of in…oh…a year and a half. I know, right? The horror! Seriously, I’m not sure how I’ve managed to stay sane without it. (Okay. Sanity is relative. And people who know me would say I’m sort of dangling off that cliff anyway…). Ahem. Anyway. I’ve been taking classes for basically the last two years, but I’m taking this summer off, and writing is definitely on the agenda. Two separate novels, in fact. And I’m planning on revising another one (FINALLY). Also, my crit group is–hopefully–going to be active again after over two years of not-much-of-anything-going-on, so I’m hoping to put the faerie story (Chasing Shadows) through it as well.

I didn’t get to do NaNo last year, since I had too much else going on, so I’m going to give Camp NaNoWriMo a try in June. I’m sure if I can write 100k in November–twice–I can write at least 50k in June. Just to get back in the swing of things.

Hello, Muse. So good to see you again!

How Cool is This? (Yes, I’m a Star Wars nerd…get over it.)

I’ve been so busy with school the last few weeks, I haven’t really had time to even check my email, but I had to check out this link: a Tatooine planet? Pretty cool, huh? Okay, so it’s uninhabitable and like a billion light years from Earth, but still awesome. And now I’m going back to do homework…and daydream about double sunsets.

Horror Movie Monster….

Hydrothermal worm, courtesy of FEI and Philippe Crassous

…or not. This is actually an electron microscope picture of a hydrothermal worm. This morning, while I was procrastinating doing some research, I stumbled on this, and almost fell out of my chair. Wow! Has George Lucas seen this, because it looks like something out of Star Wars! Just sayin’ Pretty cool pic, though. Would be far more useful if I wrote SF.

And if you’re really looking for ways to procrastinate or, alternately, actually doing research, check out ARKive. The site is filled with tons of gorgeous pictures in the organization’s effort to photograph every species on Earth. Awesome mission.